We're finally back home after our month long adventure in Australia and Bangkok. The whole trip was a memorable event, the best part being of course the birth of my first grand child, infant Felix. I'm not going to post photographs of him on here, as I don't think it is the correct thing to do...however lots of friends have asked to see him and they can on my Facebook page in a day or so. It is good to be home as there's nothing quite like one's own bed whatever and however good the hotel abroad might be!

One thing that struck me, especially in Thailand was the level of technology apparent almost everywhere. Almost everyone possessed a 4G mobile telephone and/or an eReader of some sort...and this is a third world country...the mind boggles as to just where technology is taking us.

Anyway, on to my latest guest and featured author, the talented and highly successful, Tim Ellis. Tim has a never ending stream of novels to his credit and seems to pop out a new one every 2-3 months. I only wish I had the time to do likewise! He also (usually) has at least four of his novels in the Top 100 on Amazon.co.uk. I've recently read his, "Orcs Quest" a fantasy that I thoroughly enjoyed and I'm 2/3 of the way through, "Jacob's Ladder", the first in his Randall and Stone murder series - all good stuff! Over to you, Tim!...

Tim Ellis – My writing process

So, what exactly is the writing process? When I think of a process I think of little men (or women – no, not women, that would just be weird) so, little men in blue overalls with yellow hats, carrying spanners and hammers, and working on pipes. Well, a process is carrying out a set of procedures or steps to convert something from one form to another. The question then, is how do I convert my ideas into books?

Well, first of all, I want a dramatic beginning to drag the reader into the story – both writing and reading are like a rollercoaster ride. When I’m writing, I’m like the reader, because I don’t know where the story is going. Now some people plan to various degrees, but I find that I can’t plan – I just write.

The ease with which the words flow depends on whether I’m working with some of my established characters such as Parish & Richards, or whether I’m creating someone new. If it’s an established character then I’m off and writing, but if its someone new I find a picture from Google Images that matches the picture of the character in my head, copy/paste into my book, and then I write. The type of person he/she is comes out in the action and dialogue. Here’s an example:

Tom Gabriel poked the business end of the Smith & Wesson 686P six-inch 7-shot double-action revolver barrel into the soft unshaven flesh beneath his jaw and pulled the trigger. The hammer cracked onto an empty chamber.

Cassie would have to wait another day, he thought.

Straight away, we know that each morning when he wakes up, Tom Gabriel plays Russian roulette with a view to joining his dead wife, Cassie. He knows that one day the hammer will fall on the single bullet, and he’ll be with her. For me, this behaviour tells you what type of man Tom is. He’s never been unfaithful to his wife, misses her like crazy and wants to be with her, leaves it up to fate (or God) to determine when that time will be. In the meantime, he carries on with his life. Faith says I can only have 500 words and I’ve used up 365 already – talk about pressure! So anyway, I write in scenes from (mostly) multiple viewpoints, and I make each scene as good as I can get it before moving on – I proofread and edit as I go along (although I do now have a qualified proofreader). In fact, each scene is a mini-story in itself – with a beginning, middle, and end. My books then are scenes, piled one on top of the other, like a house – or book – of cards. If you take one scene away, the book collapses, and isn’t that the way it should be?

Lastly, I aim for 1,000 words a day. I get up at five in the morning and start writing directly on my laptop. Sometimes I write less, sometimes I write more – but I don’t beat myself up if I do write less. Beneath the writing, I keep a word count by chapter, and in total, so I know how far along the rollercoaster ride I am – Oh no! This is where we plummet to our deaths - Aaaaaagh!

Thanks, Tim for a snapshot look into your writing day and process - did I really say only 500 words? If (like me), oyu're interested in Tim Ellis's books why not look him up on Amazon or take a look at his website?